


The Big Day

by Alice_h



Series: A Secret Love [9]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_h/pseuds/Alice_h
Summary: A few months after they got engaged, it's time for Adora and Catra to get married, and they're both getting ready in different ways





	1. Adora's Big Day

**Author's Note:**

> We are back to the cute fluffiness, and I hope it's enjoyable!

Adora awoke and her consciousness rushed in quickly, as her brain quickly remembered that today was the day she would be marrying the love of her life. ‘By the end of the day’, she thought to herself, ‘Catra will be my wife.’ She allowed herself to bathe in the warm feeling that thought gave her for just a minute, then jumped to her feet and pulled on a T-shirt she’d left on the floor.

For a brief moment, she wondered why everything around her looked different, then remembered that she had stayed the night in Glimmer’s room so that she and Catra would not see each other at all before the ceremony. It was supposedly bad luck to see the person you’re marrying before the wedding and even though Catra had rubbished the idea, Adora wanted to keep with the tradition, so here she was. That was the main reason, though there was another advantage to staying over with someone else:

“Come on, Glimmer, wake up!” she called, “We’ve got so much to do.”

Her friend groaned and looked over the edge of her elevated bed, bleary-eyed. She saw Adora stood below, looking extremely excited and gave her a weary smile, “This is it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Adora grinned back at her, “This is it. Now get down here - we need to go through seating plans again.”

“Didn’t we already do that six times last night?” Glimmer sighed.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure we’ve got it right. I mean, do we put Bow’s brothers all on the same table or is that going to end up with them getting annoyed at each other? But I don’t want to split them up. I don’t know what they’re like. What did Bow say when you asked? And where do his dads sit? We don’t have a table big enough for the whole family so I could put them separately or just split them all up a-“

“ADORA!” wailed Glimmer, “Just…give me two minutes to get ready then I promise, I will help you.”

The blonde girl paced around the room, muttering to herself as Glimmer got dressed and teleported down to ground level. The shorter girl yawned, “Ugh, okay. What’s first?”

“I still think we’ve got the seating layout wrong,” Adora ranted whilst staring at a chart on the wall, “How do we make sure everyone will be with the right people? Should we keep all the relatives together? But then they won’t meet new people. What if we put the wrong people together and they get into a fight?”

“Really?” laughed Glimmer, “It’s a wedding, no-one is going to get into a fight. You need to calm down, Adora. Relax...”

“I can’t relax! I’ve got to make sure everything is perfect for Catra. Should I go downstairs and check on the decorations? “

Glimmer shook her head, “Bow is taking care of that, and Perfuma has got the flowers all sorted. It’s going to look lovely a-“

“I should go and make sure,” interrupted Adora, backing towards the door. Her friend teleported behind her and blocked the way.

“Chill, Adora. You’ve only just woken up and there’s plenty of time,” she put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder and smiled, “Come on, you’ve got half an hour before the hair stylist arrives, so let’s sort this seating plan out.”

Adora took a deep breath and nodded. The two of them worked together on the seating plan, eventually settling on a layout that worked well enough to greatly reduce Adora’s worrying. With the final confirmation that they would use that, Adora had calmed down a little. Glimmer flopped back on the bed she had slept in.

“I’m tired,” she whined, “Can I go back to sleep?”

“What? No!” said an incredulous Adora, “You’re as bad as Cat- Ohmigodglimmer, you need to go and check she’s awake. She’ll sleep in until early afternoon if you let her and she cannot do that today. If she’s late it’ll be chaos!”

Glimmer sat up, “Do I _have_ to? Catra hates me, she’ll probably try and eat me or something.”

“She doesn’t hate you. Please, Glimmer? You _are_ my bridesmaid and it’ll be one less thing for me to worry about,” Adora pleaded.

The shorter girl sighed and got to her feet. She walked over to the door and as she grabbed the handle, a knock came from outside, startling her.

“Holy s-“ she yelled, opening the door, “Um, hi?”

In front of her stood a young woman with very long blonde hair and a soft face with a lot of make-up on, dressed in a fairly tight red and black patterned dress. She put down a large bag and extended a hand to Glimmer, who shook it.

“Adora?” queried the woman.

Glimmer smiled and pointed at the person this woman had mistaken her for, “Nope, that’s her. And you are?”

“Oh, crap, sorry, introductions. I’m Auxis, I’m the stylist?”

Before Glimmer could say anything, Adora had run over to the door and almost barged her out of the way, “You’re here, excellent! Glimmer, go wake Catra up, I’m gonna do the whole…hair…thing….”

Muttering under her breath, Glimmer left the two of them alone in the room. Auxis directed Adora to sit in front of the dressing table and set out some of her equipment.

“So,” she began with a grin, “How awesome do you want to look today?”

“This is going to be the perfect wedding, so I need to look _perfect_ ,” said Adora hurriedly, emphasising the final ‘perfect’, which made the stylist laugh.

“Wow, you really have it bad.”

“Have what bad?” panicked Adora, “Is there something wrong with my hair? Can you not do it? Have I mucked something up?”

“No, I’ll make it look amazing,” Auxis laughed. “Look, Adora, she would remember this day fondly if you turned up dressed in an old tracksuit and got married in a creepy back alley. You love each other, right? And you’re going to promise to be together forever. The rest is all styling, so dial down the stress a little maybe? Take some deep breaths and just think about… I dunno… married life.”

Adora did as she was told, shutting her eyes and trying to regain some sense of calm. The stylist started brushing through her hair, with Adora wincing a little as she hit some tangles. Soon, Auxis was hard at work, transforming Adora’s hair. The two of them chatted about how Adora and Catra had met, the proposal and the wedding. It was clear to Auxis just how much the two of them cared about each other, which was heartening.

Glimmer re-joined the two of them, bringing some biscuits from the kitchen, as neither she nor Adora had eaten yet that day. Adora carefully ate hers, not wanting to make a mess, whereas Glimmer scoffed hers down in about three bites.

“Did you have much trouble waking Catra up?” enquired Adora.

Glimmer went red, “Uhhh, she’s awake, at least.”

Adora turned around to look at her, with Auxis having to quickly remove her scissors to avoid stabbing Adora in the head, “Did something happen to her?”

“Ummm,” began Glimmer, not quite sure how to phrase it, “I kinda…woke her up by grabbing the duvet off and umm…”

“Oh my God,” Adora covered her mouth with her hand and stifled a laugh, “You know she doesn’t wear much in bed? You took the thing off…?”

Seeing Adora trying not to giggle gave Glimmer a signal that she wasn’t angry about it. She began to chuckle as well, “I did, I’m sorry.”

“No way,” Adora gasped, “You saw…”

“Yup, they were right there.”

Adora bent over in hysterics, “You’re such a lemon, Glimmer.”

“I won’t ever…unsee…that…” she replied between giggles.

“Damn right you won’t,” winked Adora, which made them both laugh even harder. It took about five minutes before both of them had calmed down enough to avoid getting into another fit from just looking at each other. Auxis rolled her eyes at the two of them, but still found the laughter infectious. Before long, Auxis announced that she was done, and Adora turned to show Glimmer.

“What do you think?” she asked nervously.

“Whoa…” said Glimmer, staring at her. Adora’s usual tight ponytail was nowhere to be seen, and her shoulder-length blonde hair shined as it framed her face. A few locks with curled ends fell in front of her chest. Glimmer couldn’t remember seeing Adora with her hair down before - only when she was She-Ra - and she looked amazing. Auxis had also done some light make-up, and it only served to enhance her beauty.

“Whoa good or whoa bad?” Adora queried.

“Whoa good,” enthused her friend, “You look spectacular! Like, truly amazing, Adora.”

“Aw thanks,” blushed Adora. She looked at Auxis, “Thank you as well. Are you off to do Catra now?”

The stylist nodded, “Yep, I shall go work my magic on your fiancée.”

She left, and Glimmer noticed a dorky grin on her friend’s face.

“You know what time it is now?” Adora asked mischievously.

Glimmer looked at the clock, “Uh, 11.30?”

“Wait…11.30?” Adora jumped, “Crap, we’re behind! No, I was gonna say it’s time to put the dresses on. But I guess we need to do it quickly now.”

The shorter girl got to her feet and carefully helped Adora into her dress, putting her own on once that was done. Both were very careful not to rip or tear anything, which made the process take a good ten minutes. She then assisted Adora to put her veil on and stood back to see the end result.

“Yeah,” Glimmer enthused, clapping her hands, “You are ready to get married!”

“I know!” squealed Adora. She took the veil back off, not wanting to risk any damage before the ceremony, “Hey, uh, could you go check Catra’s ready too?”

“Oh no,” warned Glimmer, “She hates me even more now after earlier.”

“Pleeeeeaaaaaase?” begged her friend.

“Fine, I’ll go. But if she eviscerates me, it’s your fault.”

Adora gently shook her head as Glimmer opened the door and left. From the corridor, she heard the girl talking to another person, whose voice she recognised as Bow’s.

“Hiya Adora,” greeted the archer, walking into the room, “Decorations are ready, flowers are perfect, it looks amazing down there. We’re all set!”

“Thank goodness!” said a relieved Adora, “And have you got the rings? You _cannot_ lose them, okay?”

Bow fished two small boxes from the pocket of his suit jacket, “Right here, safe as houses!”

“They’d best be. Now, we need to go through what’s going to happen after the ceremony.”

The two of them discussed the plans for the afternoon, a process which mainly consisted of Adora barking the schedule at Bow, and him reassuring her that he knew exactly what was going to happen. Once they had everything in hand, it was nearly time for the main event.

“You ready?” asked Bow, helping Adora put her veil back on.

“No? Yes? Maybe? I’m so nervous,” she wittered. Bow placed his hand on her back reassuringly and reminded her that it was going to be fine.

“-here somewhere!” Glimmer surprised both of them by teleporting into the middle of the room and rummaging through a drawer.

“Glimmer?” gasped Adora, “Is everything okay with Catra?”

“Ah!” the purple-haired girl cried in delight, holding something aloft, “Yep. Fine. Bye!”

She teleported back out of the room, leaving a few sparkles falling gently to the floor.

“Well that was weird,” remarked Bow flatly.

Worry flared up in Adora’s mind, “Catra is alright, isn’t she? Maybe I should-“

“No, she’ll be fine,” Bow cut her off, “I know Glimmer, and she is _not_ good at hiding bad stuff. Trust me, if something _had_ happened to Catra, you would have known instantly.”

It wasn’t entirely the reassurance Adora had been hoping for, but it would have to be enough for now. If something happened minutes before the ceremony… She shuddered at the thought of everything going wrong, something that did not go un-noticed by her best man.

“Hey, you got this Adora. Everything will go fine, trust me.”

“You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent. Though not if we don’t get a move on, it’s time,” he offered his arm to Adora, “Right, milady, let’s go!”

She linked her own arm through his and they stepped out of Glimmer’s room, walking carefully along the corridor and down the stairway. They stopped just outside the doors of the Great Hall.

“Here we go!” enthused Bow. He pushed on the door, and two attendants pulled them open from inside.

“Whoa…” Adora gasped. The Great Hall was decorated in a luxurious colour scheme of white and gold. Flowers lined the walls and the pillars, with bunting linking them. Ceremonial tapestries hung from the walls, matching the colours of the flowers that bordered them, and a long gold-coloured carpet ran the length of the aisle, “This is amazing Bow…thank you!”

“Team effort,” he smiled. At the far end of the Hall, an exquisite white arch stood bordered with golden yellow roses, and underneath stood Queen Angella. Next to her, Catra was staring in amazement at Adora’s appearance, her mouth wide open with surprise.

Catra herself was looking stunning in a black tuxedo, fitting her slim frame perfectly, and her hair was looking simultaneously wild and neat in the way that Adora had never seen anyone else able to pull off. Everything about her fiancée made Adora want to run down the aisle and wrap her arms around her, but there would be time for that, she reasoned. With purpose, she began to walk slowly through the sea of guests, all of whom were just as captivated by her beauty as her soon-to-be wife.

She reached the front of the Hall and stood opposite her fiancée, giving Catra a smile. It was returned with a warm smile that put Adora at ease. The blonde girl noticed some unfamiliar jewellery around Catra’s neck and gestured at her own, mouthing the words ‘what’s that?’. Catra pointed at Glimmer, mouthing the words ‘ask her’ back. Adora turned to look at her bridesmaid, who just grinned and stuck her tongue out playfully.

The couple of hundred people in the audience hushed as Queen Angella stood forward. It was time – they were about to get married.


	2. Catra's Big Day

Despite having her eyes shut, the sudden surge of light was almost painful to Catra, as was the sound of Glimmer shouting.

“Come on, Catra, wake up, it’s the big day!”

“Noooo…” she groaned.

“Yes!” Glimmer walked over to the bed and made a grab for the duvet.

Catra’s eyes opened wide and she also tried to grab the cover, “No – nononononono don’t.”

“Yes, you’re getting ma-OH MY GOD!! SORRY!!” she threw the duvet off, revealing Catra in only a pair of briefs. She turned around instantly, as Catra scrabbled to pick the cover back up and hide herself.

“Well I’m awake now,” grumbled Catra.

“I am… _so_ sorry,” Glimmer was still facing away, hands covering her face and feeling as embarrassed as Catra was.

Neither said anything for a moment, before Catra gestured towards the princess impatiently, “Well?”

“Huh?” replied Glimmer.

“Would you _leave_?”

“Oh, um…yeah,” Glimmer teleported herself outside without looking back, just in case. Catra laid back on the bed and let out a long sigh. She was beyond excited to get married today, but just needed a little more sleep. However, as she tried, the shock of such an unexpected awakening had shot adrenaline through her body, and she was unable to drift off again.

“Ugh, fine,” she said to herself, sitting up and grabbing a t-shirt from the laundry basket. It was one of Adora’s and was a little too long and baggy for her, but she didn’t mind. It smelt like Adora, and that made her content. She sat back on the bed and turned on the radio – it was one of her favourite songs and she bobbed from side to side on the bed, before laughing and shaking her head at how stupid it was.

Five minutes later, the radio was turned up loud, with Catra dramatically dancing around the room. She had both her arms in the air and thrust her hips from side to side in time with the music, slowly tracing a circular path around the floor. Catching sight of herself in the mirror made her chuckle to herself, and she started mouthing along to the music, with her arms darting from side to side as she watched her own performance.

Catra was suddenly struck by the thought of something she’d always wanted to do, and there in front of her was the opportunity. Adora’s hairbrush. She grabbed it and brought it up to her face, mumbling some words and humming, “Breathe in, hmm hmmm hmm-hmm, suh duh, duh-duh-duh duh”

Catra stopped completely for a moment, as the end of the verse brought the chorus. She threw her arms out wide as the music built up.

“Don’t you forgeeeeet now... that you’re strong,” she sang loudly, wiggling her body from side to side, “Those dreams don’t sit right, bottled up, bottled up.”

She brought the hairbrush-microphone back to her mouth, watching herself in the mirror, “And so you go out and you hear in your head, it’s alright, it’s alright.”

She gripped the hairbrush with both hands and brought her elbows in, still swaying from side to side, “Soar up and hear them go, a whoa-whoa-whoa-whoaaaaaaaaa.”

Her vivid performance continued for another three songs, before she fell back onto the bed in fits of laughter. She’d never do that with anyone around, not even Adora, but it was wonderfully fun and liberating to do so. Still giggling to herself, she began to think about how she was happier than she had ever thought possible, and the day would only get better. Catra lazed about for another half an hour, before a knock on her door brought her to her feet. She opened it, seeing a woman with a large bag stood outside.

“Hi,” said the woman, “I’m Auxis, I’m here to do your hair.”

“I can do my own hair,” Catra ran a hand backwards through her brown locks, which settled haphazardly back on her head, “See? Done! Thanks anyway. Bye!”

She shut the door again. Her hair always looked fine as it was, what could a hairdresser do to make it look any nicer than it always was? Besides, she wanted to present herself on her own terms, not how other people thought she should look. Tradition could take a hike, as far as Catra was concerned. She knew exactly how she wanted to look at her own wedding, and she wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of that.

Realising she had a good hour before she needed to get ready, Catra curled up on the bed and yawned. She could laze about for a little while, she figured, and started daydreaming about spending the rest of her life with Adora. How even in 40- or 50-years’ time – and beyond – she’d wake up every day next to her and feel like the luckiest person in the world. How even the mundane things, like having dinner or cleaning, would feel special because she got to do them with Adora.

The sound of her door being knocked took her away from her thoughts. Catra opened the door and Glimmer stood before her, “Well, at least you knocked this time.”

The princess took a look at the girl in front of her, “Adora is going to go nuts, you’re not even dressed…”

“Yes I am!” Catra protested, “I thought I’d just wear this.”

Glimmer put her head in her hands, “Please tell me you are not wearing one of Adora’s dirty shirts and… hopefully some underwear… to your wedding ceremony?”

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

Glimmer growled with frustration and rapidly tried to think of how to handle this, when Catra gave a smirk.

“Too easy,” she laughed, “Calm down, Gribbles, I’ve got a proper outfit in the closet.”

“ _GLIMMER!”_ shouted the princess, “Look, I know you hate me but Adora is one of my best friends and I-“

“Whoa! I don’t hate you,” Catra interrupted.

Glimmer raised an eyebrow, not quite believing it to be true, “Really? Because you do a good impression of someone who hates me.”

“No, I… I owe you. You took in and helped Adora, you trusted her when everyone else just saw a Horde soldier and wanted to hurt her. You stood by her when I couldn’t, and you convinced everyone to come and rescue me. Without you, this wouldn’t be happening.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“You did,” nodded Catra, “Look, I know I sometimes tease you, but honestly, I… I guess I need to thank you. For everything. And, um, I’d like to consider you a friend…if… if that’s okay with you?”

Glimmer looked down at the floor. She’d never thought about Catra as anything other than her friend’s sarcastic annoying girlfriend. A bit of guilt set in as she realised that she’d written her off and not tried to get along beyond tolerating Catra as Adora’s partner.

“I’d like that too.”

Catra smiled and surprised Glimmer with a hug. Tentatively at first, she reciprocated and put her arms around Catra’s body, before relaxing and giving her a big squeeze.

“Friends?” asked Catra.

“Friends.”

“So, Adora wanted you to help me get dressed?”

“Yeah,” Glimmer laughed, “She is going way overboard with stressing out about everything and I think she’s probably expecting you to be unable to dress yourself or something.”

Catra raised her arms in the air, “Well come on then…”

“I…uh…” Glimmer’s expression transitioned rapidly from confusion to disgust to fear.

The other girl laughed, “Still too easy. No, I’m not going to make you dress me. But I will make you stay and chat while I do.”

“Sure! Soooo….are you looking forward to getting married?”

“Are you joking? I’ve never looked forward to anything more,” enthused Catra as she turned away and took her shirt off, “Adora is everything to me, I love her so so so so so much.”

“Adora is pretty great,” agreed Glimmer, “She’s such a good friend to Bow and I, we love her too! I mean, not the same way you do but, y’know…as a friend.”

Catra picked a crisp white shirt out of the cupboard and began to put it on, “Yeah, she’s lovely to everyone. Even back in the Horde, she…”

She trailed off and silently continued getting dressed. Glimmer could sense a change in her demeanour and wasn’t sure whether to change the topic or reassure her, so the awkward silence grew.

“Anyway, enough of that,” Catra broke through the atmosphere, “How do I look?”

She turned to Glimmer and revealed herself in a formal black tuxedo. It was an unusual choice, but Catra looked fantastic in it.

“Amazing! Like, perfect!” the princess said enthusiastically, “Wait…there’s one more thing. I want to give you something, I know it’s-“

She teleported away, leaving a slightly startled Catra hanging on the rest of the sentence. A few moments later, Glimmer appeared back in the room and stretched out a hand towards her. In it, she held a small golden chain with a blue gemstone attached.

“It was my mum’s,” she explained, “She wore it on her wedding day and said it was for good luck and a happy life. I mean…I don’t know if I believe that, but you should borrow it.”

Catra picked the chain up and inspected it, “Wow…uh, thanks, I… I’ll definitely wear it.”

She wrapped it around her neck and fiddled with the clasp until it fell into place, thanking Glimmer once more. The princess smiled, before catching sight of the clock on the bedside table, “Oh wow…we need to be downstairs.”

“Crap, this is it,” nerves suddenly started to hit Catra, as the two of them left the room. Glimmer ran on in front to make sure Adora wasn’t going to exit the room she was in and catch sight of her bride. A couple of minutes later, they arrived in the Great Hall. It was beautifully decorated throughout, and most of the guests had already arrived and started talking amongst themselves. In the centre, Perfuma was putting the finishing touches to the flowers in the bridal arch.

“Hey Glimmer, hey Catra,” she turned to look at them, “How does it look?”

“Absolutely magnificent,” came the unexpected compliment from Catra, “You and Bow have… I’m speechless, this is beyond incredible.”

Perfuma blushed and rushed off to take her seat in the audience, which was now almost full up. The low hubbub of conversation vanished as Queen Angella entered the Hall and made her way to the front. She immediately noticed Catra’s jewellery.

“Is that my necklace?” she asked.

Glimmer spoke before Catra could, “Yeah, I said she could wear it. If that’s a problem I can get her to take it off…”

The Queen smiled, “Not at all, I hope it brings you all the best.”

Catra’s eyes darted around the room as she tried to take in everything that had been done just for her and Adora. The bunting between the pillars, the little posies of flowers for each guest, it was all far more than she felt she deserved. Adora on the other hand… she deserved all of this.

The doors opened and Catra caught sight of her wife-to-be for the first time that day. Her jaw dropped at Adora’s appearance. The dress was a brilliant silky white and hugged the curves of her body before expanding into a flowy skirt that hid her legs. Her hair had been freed of its usual ponytail and draped effortlessly across her shoulders, with the top and back of her head covered by a lace veil.

Adora walked slowly up to the front and smiled at Catra, making her feel calm and loved. Queen Angella stepped forward, ready to conduct the ceremony. ‘In a few minutes,’ Catra thought to herself, ‘I’m going to be married.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that takes us up to the ceremony!
> 
> By the way, the song Catra sings is 'Set It Right' by The Colourist - there's no significance to it, it was just upbeat and playing when I wrote it.


End file.
